“They will have to accept our rules,” says Khalid Salman of the gay crowd heading to Qatar for the World Cup.
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A Qatari World Cup ambassador called homosexuality a “mental damage”in an interview broadcast Tuesday, November 8 on the German public channel ZDF. “During the World Cup, a lot of things will happen here in the country. Let’s talk about gays”said Khalid Salman, former Qatari international and 2022 World Cup ambassador.
“The most important thing is that everyone will accept that they come here but they will have to accept our rules”, adds Khalid Salman in this excerpt from an interview which will be broadcast in full on Tuesday evening on ZDF. homosexuality, “it’s ‘haram'”, he believes. In other words: “prohibited”. “It’s ‘haram’ because it’s mental damage”adds the Qatari ambassador, before being interrupted by a press officer.
The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani assured on September 21 that all supporters would be welcomed “without discrimination” during the World Cup organized in his country, from November 20 to December 18, in an apparent desire to reassure on the reception of LGBT + visitors.
Homosexuality is illegal in this Gulf state and the organizers of the World Cup tried to reassure by saying that homosexual couples would not be worried during the tournament. FIFA had reaffirmed that rainbow flags, symbols of the LGBT + community, would be allowed around stadiums.
The captains of several European teams – including those of England, France and Germany – will wear rainbow colored armbands with the message “One Love” as part of a campaign against discrimination.